The BASH toolkit for your business

These guides are written for the person who runs the business, not an IT department. The examples span a law office, a construction firm, a dental clinic, a distributor, a multi-location retailer, and a nonprofit — because the underlying technology needs are remarkably similar once you look past the industry. Each guide tells you what the capability is, whether you can do it yourself, where the real risk is, and when it’s worth bringing in help.

New here? Start with [[The small-business IT foundation]], then follow whichever thread is slowing you down.

Foundations

• The small-business IT foundation foundational — A plain-English guide to small business IT foundations — accounts, devices, network, files, backup, and security explained without the jargon

AI & automation

• Adopting AI in your business without losing control foundational — A plain-English guide to adopting AI in your small business safely, with approved tools, data rules, and a 30-day pilot plan

Cloud

• Moving to the cloud: a small-business playbook foundational — A small-business cloud migration playbook — what moving to the cloud means, honest costs, a phased plan, security basics, and avoiding lock-in

ERP

• Outgrowing QuickBooks: is it time for ERP? intermediate — How to tell whether you have outgrown QuickBooks or just set it up poorly, with a decision checklist and honest ERP cost and timeline

Finance & accounting

• Closing your books faster with automation intermediate — A practical guide to a faster month-end close for small businesses using bank feeds, AP automation, reconciliations, and a 5-day close checklist

Data & BI

• From spreadsheets to dashboards foundational — Move from spreadsheets to trustworthy dashboards — pick KPIs that matter, connect your systems, and choose Power BI or Looker Studio

Software & integration

• Making your software talk to each other intermediate — A plain-English guide to connecting your business software with low-code tools or an API so data flows without manual copy-paste

IT strategy

• Building a 12-month IT roadmap foundational — How to build a 12-month IT roadmap for your small business — inventory, prioritize by risk and value, budget in ranges, avoid lock-in

Security & managed IT

• The security baseline every small business needs foundational — The six security controls every small business needs first, in priority order, plus a 30-minute self-audit and how they map to cyber insurance

• Backups and recovery that actually work foundational — A plain-English guide to small business backups and recovery — the 3-2-1 rule, immutable copies, RTO and RPO, and the restore test that proves it works

Want a hand?

These guides are meant to make you self-sufficient. When a project is bigger than a weekend — a real migration, an audit deadline, a system that has to keep running while you change it — that’s when a conversation helps. Tell us what’s slowing you down and we’ll point you to the right guide or the right next step.